Abu Dhabi health authorities halt licences for medical centres at buildings
Abu Dhabi authorities have decided to stop issuing licences for hospitals inside inhabited buildings and gave existing medical units five years to evict the building.
Health officials said the new rules were prompted by the fact that many inhabited buildings in the emirate of two million people have become a base for medical practices, some of which were found to be illegal.
The licensing committee at the Abu Dhabi Health Authority (ADHA) said it decided to freeze licences for any new hospitals inside inhabited building in the capital following discussions on such practices in Abu Dhabi this week.
The decision gave all hospitals inside inhabited buildings five years starting from November 1, 2012, to shift to another location. But it also permitted them to remain in the building provided it is not inhabited and is exclusively rented for the hospital.
“There will be no more licences to hospitals inside buildings…we have taken this decision because we found that the presence of medical centres inside inhabited buildings carries many risks and does not conform to global standards,” the licensing committee’s director, Dr Ali Al-Ali, said.